In November 2010, Navarino Network welcomed Professor Refik Erzan for a discussion on “The Turkish ‘Economic Miracle’? Accomplishments and Prospects”. Professor Erzan presented the history of liberalization of the Turkish economy after 1980.

He also described the large fiscal imbalances that led to the crisis of 2000-2001 and the 14 agreements between Turkey and the IMF, a record number, the last of which was successfully implemented in the early 2000 and led today for the first time at low deficits, debt reduction and one-digit inflation. Despite high growth rates, Turkey is behind many emerging Asian economies and shows significant structural weaknesses such as the low participation of women in the labor force, poor training of human resources and low national savings. Referring to the present Greek crisis, Prof. Erzan said that the Greek problem is simple: the primary goal is to put order in public finances. Furthermore, he stressed that the Greeks should be inspired to once again become competitive and successful in the fields that they have comparative advantages in international markets.

Refik Erzan is Professor at the Department of Economics, Bogazici University and the Director of the Center for Economics and Econometrics. Erzan, after graduation from Bogazici University, received his PhD in Economics from the University of Stockholm, while he worked at the Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES). Erzan served as an economist at UNCTAD in Geneva and later joined the World Bank and worked as a Senior Economist in Washington DC until he moved to academia. Prof. Erzan’s field is international economics, particularly international trade and economics of integration.